Artist’s block

After the 2017 wildfires, Katharine Kunst felt the need for her Sonoma neighbors to know each other. So, over a year-and a half period, in full pandemic, she sat masked on her camp stool in front of each, drawing the 19 houses on her Second Street East block. The resulting drawings, compiled as the exhibition Creating Community, is on display now at Maysonnave House. 

She first imagined the project back in 2018. “It took me until COVID hit in 2020 to begin to draw. You all saw me sitting outside your house with my mask and graph paper for days. And I spent many more days in my studio on window trim and landscapes. I finally distributed the directory in April 2022.”

“Making a directory was the first step in creating community. The next was a very fun block party. And the third step is this one: having a show of all the houses.”

“My hope is that this exhibition will help my block get to know each other still better and that it might encourage other blocks to take a similar action.  In these troubling times, we need each other more than ever.” 

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